Speaking of Base Mileage

In Feb/March I began walking 20 mpw and transitioned to running by adding in intervals of running on my walk. I built up to a total of 3 1/2 mi of running on a 5 mi loop (1 1/2 was walking) with the longest stretch of running being 1 1/2 mi. This took me A couple months.

In June I 'accidentally' ran 3mi (was with friends and busy chatting) and felt great....so I upped it and upped it again over a two week period until I was running 5mi 3 x that last week. Then I got benched with plantar fasciitis. Yes, rookie mistake.

I swim a master program 3x a week and want to run 3-4x a week. My aerobic fitness is good, which is why I upped my mileage so quickly...because I could and didn't know better.

Now I am back at it, so can someone advise me on how to properly proceed to building a base?

I think you we're going about it pretty good until the last couple of weeks there. I look at my total weekly mileage, and if recovery is going okay the next week I will fit in another mile somewhere. I increase one or two runs a week. Not by much - just a little. It's also a good idea to cut back every 4 or so weeks to allow your body a bit longer recovery.

Now I am back at it, so can someone advise me on how to properly proceed to building a base?

Rule of thumb many people use is, do not increase your weekly mileage more than 10% per week. Start slow, low miles; increase gradually. Build a base level of fitness that then allows you to work hard, without major soreness or injury. IMO this is the most critical phase of a fitness program; and the most difficult because you really want to get after it. Take the first 90 days slow and easy. Once you have built that base, then you can go on a long hard run and just feel worked; not sore, not injured.

The 10% thing should be relegated to the dustbin of bad advice just like stretching cold muscles. Increase by 10% each week and in less than six months, you'll be running over 100 miles per week. Here's something I think works much better.

Whatever mileage you are running, never increase until you have been at that mileage for 2-3 weeks. Then, when you do increase, increase by 1/2 mile for every day of the week you are running. So, if you are running 4 days a week, increase by 2 miles. Hold at that mileage for 2-3 weeks. Then, take a cutback week in which you only run 2/3 of your normal mileage. After the cutback week, increase again. So, let's assume you are running 4 days a week and 15 miles per week.

Week 1 - 15 miles

Week 2 - 15 miles

Week 3 - 17 miles

Week 4 - 17 miles

Week 5 - 10 miles

Week 6 - 19 miles

Always be prepared to pull the plug and back down if you're not feeling it that week.

Short Term Goal - 17:59 5K

Medium Term Goal - 2:54:59 marathon

Long Term Goal - To have been a runner half my life (I started at age 45)

^^ This is about as good an answer as it gets. Especially the bit at the end. Don't be afraid to take things slower if you have any doubts or fatigue or pains. Personally I take it slower than the 1/2 mile per day run but the theory is sound if you're fit and careful.

I keep seeing the 10%, but honestly the 1/2 per day running seems to be more straight forward. I also have seen that most training plans do ease up on mileage week 4 of each month and since my monthly cycle :-( takes me out for a day or two, I figured that is where I would place my easy week.

Also the suggestion of giving myself 90 days to work on building a base is excellent.

Edited to add....if I schedule 3-4 regular runs, would it be good to squeeze in 2-3 more super easy 1 milers? I keep reading that if you want to build your mileage you need to run more often. I don't want to re-injure myself. Would an additional couple of short easy runs be beneficial or should I give myself (musculoskeletal system) more time to adjust by sticking to my 3-4 day schedule?

I think it's more difficult to add days of running than to increase distance when you're new. But I think a good way to do that is to add really short runs in to get used to it. I wouldn't add in a running day that is less than 20 min of running b/c I don't think you get much out of a 10 minute run, but everyone is different.

If it were me, I'd work on getting up to 5 days of running before worrying too much about increasing the length of those runs.

I keep seeing the 10%, but honestly the 1/2 per day running seems to be more straight forward. I also have seen that most training plans do ease up on mileage week 4 of each month and since my monthly cycle :-( takes me out for a day or two, I figured that is where I would place my easy week.

Also the suggestion of giving myself 90 days to work on building a base is excellent.

Edited to add....if I schedule 3-4 regular runs, would it be good to squeeze in 2-3 more super easy 1 milers? I keep reading that if you want to build your mileage you need to run more often. I don't want to re-injure myself. Would an additional couple of short easy runs be beneficial or should I give myself (musculoskeletal system) more time to adjust by sticking to my 3-4 day schedule?

Thank you everyone!

To second what RobinCD wrote, I don't think runs under 20 minutes are worth the time, much less the effort. I think it would be better to build up mileage on, say, 4 days per week, then move to 5 days per week running fewer miles each day. Follow the F.I.T (= Frequency Intensity Time) principle, where you don't increase more than one per week or two.

As a simple example, lets say you are running 4 days per week, averaging 5 miles per day to total 20 miles for the week. If you wanted to move to 5 days per week (increasing Frequency), then you should average 4 miles each day to keep yourself at 20 miles for the week.

Believe it or not, there is actually a decent amount of evidence that as little as 10 minutes of activity is beneficial at least from an overall health standpoint. If you can squeeze in a mile some day, I don't see why not. Might be a good way to gradually get your body used to running more days per week. I agree that if you do start running additional days, it's probably a good idea to keep your mileage the same or even drop it a bit for a couple of weeks until you get used to that extra day. Thus, instead of 4 five mile runs, you might start doing something like 3, 4, 4, 2, 5 for a few weeks. That's 18 rather than 20 miles and it adds variety which is always good.

Short Term Goal - 17:59 5K

Medium Term Goal - 2:54:59 marathon

Long Term Goal - To have been a runner half my life (I started at age 45)

I've actually thought about adding in a stand alone mile on several days. I've kept slowing down and slowing down as I run farther, and it would be nice to have some short distances to run at an increased pace. I'd REALLY like to get my kids out doing that mile with me. But I don't push them. Just wishful thinking.

If I add in another day I should divide my total weekly number of miles (8-9ish) by the total days running (3 now but adding a 4th and eventually a 5th) so that I am not exceeding my weekly total. After 2-3 weeks add 1/2 mile to my weekly total for each day I run. So if I am running 4x week I would add 2mi to my weekly total. Take every 4th week as a rest/recovery/lighter milage week.

If I add in another day I should divide my total weekly number of miles (8-9ish) by the total days running (3 now but adding a 4th and eventually a 5th) so that I am not exceeding my weekly total. After 2-3 weeks add 1/2 mile to my weekly total for each day I run. So if I am running 4x week I would add 2mi to my weekly total. Take every 4th week as a rest/recovery/lighter milage week.

Does that sound accurate?

Sounds good. Disperse those two miles over the week also instead of tacking them on to one day and if you feel tired or a little twinge or something feel free to take it slower, but yeah you've got the gist.

The 10% thing should be relegated to the dustbin of bad advice just like stretching cold muscles. Increase by 10% each week and in less than six months, you'll be running over 100 miles per week. Here's something I think works much better.

Whatever mileage you are running, never increase until you have been at that mileage for 2-3 weeks. Then, when you do increase, increase by 1/2 mile for every day of the week you are running. So, if you are running 4 days a week, increase by 2 miles. Hold at that mileage for 2-3 weeks. Then, take a cutback week in which you only run 2/3 of your normal mileage. After the cutback week, increase again. So, let's assume you are running 4 days a week and 15 miles per week.

Week 1 - 15 miles

Week 2 - 15 miles

Week 3 - 17 miles

Week 4 - 17 miles

Week 5 - 10 miles

Week 6 - 19 miles

Always be prepared to pull the plug and back down if you're not feeling it that week.